Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder
by DarkElements10
Summary: -Companion piece to 'Guess Who's Back-. Danny hopes that he can make up for the way he acted years before. And with the time that they spent apart, maybe things will go his way. One can only hope because, as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.


**Absence makes the heart grow fonder**

**By: Riley**

**Summary – -**Companion piece to 'Guess Who's Back-. Danny hopes that he can make up for the way he acted years before. And with the time that they spent apart, maybe things will go his way. One can only hope because, as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

* * *

Danny Jones was a firm believer that everything happened for a reason. There was a reason that McFly wanted to go in a new direction with their music. There was a reason that Jake and Fletch suggested that they go to a country they've never been before to work on their new album. There was a reason that they were going off to Australia to get it done. And he firmly believed it was so that he would be able to fall in love.

That had to be it, right? Why else would it be that the Jacksons, aka the DarkElements, were the ones that would be showing them around Australia and setting them up with a record company that as going to help them achieve the goal that they had set for themselves? Not for their health, that was for sure. Yeah, maybe it was good to have someone they knew to help make the transition easier. Blah, blah, blah. That wasn't the point.

The point was that he was getting a second shot at starting a relationship with Rhuben, or as he affectionately called 'love', again and he wasn't going to let it slip away. When they had met years ago, he was immediately smitten with her and tried everything he could to get her attention. However, it seemed to have the opposite effect, pushing her away, rather than getting her close. However, after finding out that she was being abused by her then father and manager, he used his tactics to make her laugh and smile to show that not everyone was out to make her life miserable. Something must have worked because she turned around and gave him a chance. They dated a while, had a few problems with his ex-girlfriend, Olivia, she moved on to Charlie Simpson of Busted fame, they broke up, and then she and her siblings moved back to Australia.

No matter, all of that was behind them now and they could move forward. Just as Danny was now doing, to get to Rhuben's side to walk with her out of the airport. She was busy talking to Harry about something drummer related; as he could guess from the way their hands were moving in front of them. His eyes watched her hands for a moment before he looked her over, starting from her hair, running down the rest of her body, stopping at her ass for a long moment, then going down to her feet. Her rocker/hip-hop style hadn't changed much but he noticed a feeling of self-confidence, a higher amount of self-awareness coming from her that attracted him even more.

"So what do you have planned for us, love?" Danny held his hand up to block the cameras that were flashing in their faces. He flashed Rhuben his pearly whites, causing her to raise an eyebrow as she listened to him. "Romantic walks on the beach? Late night studio sessions? Seeing the sights? I heard that the Sydney Harbor Bride is really romantic."

"I wouldn't know," Rhuben replied smoothly. "What with the constant wind blowing in your face when you're on it." She smiled over at Sydney who burst out laughing at Danny's failed attempt to flirt with her. He wasn't too upset about it; he would just go back to his usual tactics and try again. There was something still there, he knew it. It was _fate_.

"Besides there're a lot of things that you blokes can do here in Steak and Kidney," Riley added. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of car keys, spinning them around her finger as she walked. "You can go surfing-"

"Which we do every morning," Patrick jumped in.

"Sky diving," Riley continued.

"We haven't tried it, but it might be something that you all are interested in," Patrick added. "You know…if you _like_ the idea of crashing into the ground at over one hundred miles an hour." He smiled sweetly when Riley glared at him.

"And of course that's only when you have the time off from all of the studio work that you guys are going to do," Riley concluded. "Besides, you have to see where you're going to stay first." She must have noticed that Danny's face lit up, for she quickly dashed his hopes. "And _no_ we're not going to be staying in the same house, again. We learned our lesson last time."

Ok, so he was just going to have to go with plan B…

Whatever plan B was.

"Anyway, we brought both of our cars here, since we all wouldn't fit in the van," Riley continued, pointing between herself and Rhuben. "So whoever wants to ride with me can-"

"I'll ride you," Dougie said. He then gave an impish smile as Harry and Danny laughed. Tom rolled his eyes and shook his head, as if he was silently apologizing for Dougie's behavior. "I mean, ride with you." He hooked his bag up over his shoulder. "I swear I won't be any problems at all."

"I'll go with you too," Tom said, lowering his hand. "I'll make sure that he doesn't get us in an accident or anything."

"Who was the one that stole that car that Fletch got us when we were making the music video for _Friday Night_?" Danny immediately threw Tom under the bus. If not for the fact that he liked to see how much he could push Tom's buttons, but that it was one of the few times that Tom tried to do something funny and nearly had a mental breakdown thinking that they were going to go to jail.

"It was _your_ bloody idea!' Tom shoved him on the arm.

"I didn't tell you to go along with it," Danny defended himself.

"Yeah, but knowing you, I'm sure your hyena laughter didn't help matters much," Rhuben muttered. She pushed her purple strand of hair out of her face. "So it's me and Harry and Noah and Danny,"-she took the moment to eye him up and down-"and Tom, Dougie, Patrick, and Sydney will go with Riles." She turned on her heel and headed into the parking lot to her car, a purple challenger.

Harry let out a low whistle, running his hand over the back door of the car. "You got a bloody sweet car here, Rhu."

"Thanks." Rhuben smiled with pride. "I researched what car I wanted for a long time before I finally decided on it. But, you know, you can't beat a classic." She crossed her arms over her chest, using the remote to pop open the trunk. "And of course I had to get it in purple."

"Of course," Noah agreed. Rhuben reached out and shoved him on the arm.

"It's a good color, love, on your and for your car," Danny said. He threw his bag into the trunk before walking over to the driver's side and opened the door for her. With a grand sweep of his arm, he gestured for her to get inside.

"Thanks." Rhuben gave him a quick smile before sliding into the driver's seat and pulling her legs inside. Danny moved over to the passenger side of the car and climbed inside as Noah and Harry climbed into the backseat. She turned on the car and sat in the parking spot for a few seconds.

Harry twisted around to see if there was anyone behind them. "Uh…what are you waiting for?"

"For Riles," Rhuben said simply. She pointed straight ahead and a second later a red Camaro came blasting through the parking lot, windows down. They could hear Tom yelling at the top of his lungs. "She drives really fast, so don't be surprised if they die on the way to the house." She checked both ways before pulling out of her parking space and following Riley out of the airport lot.

"And she's not kidding," Noah added. "We say she has road rage, but Riles always denies it."

"Well, I would have chosen to ride with you anyway," Danny said.

Rhuben lightly shook her head, although she had a half smile on her face. "You haven't changed much," she remarked.

"Nope!" Danny said cheerfully.

* * *

"Ok, this is where you're going to be living for the next couple of months." Sydney waved his arms towards the beach house that the two bands were standing in front of. It was a large three story house filled with windows and had balconies on almost every room on the second and third floors. In the background they could hear the waves rolling on the beach, which Patrick explained was a ten minute walk away. Sydney turned back to McFly, pointing down the street. "We live a few houses down there."

'"Way to go, Little Man," Riley said. "Now these boofhead are probably gonna pop in all day."

"And eat your food," Dougie quickly added.

Harry nodded in agreement. "Yeah, ever since you stopped cooking for us, we've lived on nothing but fast food and take out." He rubbed his stomach, trying to look as pitiful as possible.

"I can tell," Patrick remarked. He reached out and poked Tom on the stomach. "You may want to wait a bit before going out on the beach in only your swimmers, yeah?" He let out a cry of pain when Noah reached over and smacked him on the back of the head. Noah then put his twin in a headlock, turning him away from his family and friends.

"Tact, look it up," he said.

"Breath mints, invest in some," Patrick replied, pushing Noah's face away.

"Anyway, if you play your cards right, I _might_ invite you guys over for dinner later today," Riley added. Danny hoped she would. He could picture it now. Having dinner with their friends, good food for once, then afterwards he and Rhuben could go walking on the beach under the moonlight. The stars, the surf, the sand…the _ambience_. Nothing short of romantic to move things along further.

Riley raised and lowered her right shoulder in a shrug. "If Ronan agrees to it, anyway," she concluded, speaking of their music producer.

Danny frowned. _There goes that idea._

"But he likes us!" Tom declared, looking as confused as the others were.

"Yeah, when you're working on music," Sydney explained. "Otherwise he says that when McFly and the DarkElements get together, then there's nothing but trouble and chaos." He grinned, his dimples appearing I his cheeks. "And we all know how true that is." He reached out a hand and Riley slapped a set of keys inside. "Ok, let's go see the inside." He led the way up the front steps, unlocked the door, and pushed it wide open so everyone could go inside.

He turned to look back at Tom, Danny, Dougie, and Harry as they took in the contemporary style house. Sunlight filtered in through all of the windows that lined the rooms. There seemed to be a window along every wall. The ceilings were high and chandeliers hung from them. A big screen TV sat in the living room along with black leather couches and a cotton white rug underneath a mahogany coffee table. The dining room was to the left, looking as immaculate as ever. Down the hallway in front of them was the kitchen and as Sydney led them in there, they saw a staircase directly to the side of the room.

"It leads up to the bedrooms," Noah said when he saw Dougie's blue eyes light up. Probably thinking of a way to sneak food into his room. "But there's another staircase in the front of the house that does it as well. There are games and stuff in the basements, and plenty of guest rooms if you want to have anyone over." He glanced at Rhuben before looking at Danny. "Please let us know if you're going to have any guests so we don't accidentally barge in."

Sydney and Riley snickered as all eyes turned to Danny. He tired to ignore it. The way he acted before…it would put a hitch into his plan. He led everyone towards the stairs. Riley, Dougie, and Tom got to it at the same time. Tom stepped back so Riley could go.

"Ladies first," he said.

"Then by all means, after you," Dougie said, pitching his voice higher and winking at him. Tom scowled as Riley tilted her head back and laughed. Dougie smiled at her and the two followed Tom up the stairs. They went through the rooms that the guys were going to have, marveling over the views of the beach and the surrounding neighborhood from each window. They even had their own half bathrooms in their rooms, with a full bathroom down the hall. Tom, of course, got the master bedroom, wanting to be as far away from whatever shenanigans the others could get into. Especially with the nerf guns and the super soakers that the Jacksons asked to be put in there, knowing that they would like to play with them.

Danny went into his room, dropping his bag on the bed. He walked over to the window and looked down at the beach below. The balcony was perfect if he ever wanted to just sit out there and play the guitar all day long.

"So what d'you think?"

He turned to see Rhuben walking into the room behind him. Danny stepped back from the balcony and closed the doors that led to it. He, once again, flashed her a warm smile. "I think it's great!" He said enthusiastically.

"Thought you'd like it," Rhuben said. She slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "I made sure that you got the one with the balcony over the beach."

"You know me too well," Danny remarked. He took a step closer to her.

"I should," Rhuben quirked an eyebrow.

She was silent for a moment before speaking again. Danny wasn't surprised, that was the way she was. She thought things through before speaking, becoming even more of a mystery to him that he wanted to crack. Even when they had been dating there was always something interesting that he could unveil about her. It was what he really liked about Rhuben, not that he didn't find her attractive, he thought she was completely stunning with her black hair, blue eyes, and slight tan that set both of them off. Plus, she was the first girl that didn't fall to his advances so easily. But every glare, roll of eyes, frown, disapproving glance, and a slap or two just had him wanting more.

"After what we've been through I mean," she finally said.

"It seems so long ago now," Danny said. Rhuben nodded. He reached out and pushed her hair out of her face. Rhuben closed her eyes at the touch before opening them again, a peaceful expression sliding on her face. "I really missed you, you know," he said, lowering his voice. 'I never stopped thinking about you."

His heart swelled when Rhuben gave him a soft smile back, a small blush coloring her cheeks. "I missed you, too," she said in almost a whisper.

"Yeah?" Danny smirked. "What'd you miss about me?"

"I missed your hair," Rhuben said, reaching up to brush a curly lock out of his face. When they had met he meticulously straightened his hair day after day. As they had gotten older, he stopped and started to let it be as naturally curly as he wanted. "I missed your eyes; I missed your smile, and your laugh." She slid her hands up to his shoulders, stepping closer to him. So close that he could see each of the freckles that were around her nose. "And I missed being able to…" she leaned towards him.

Danny leaned in and…

Rhuben grabbed the super soaker that was sitting on the dresser behind her. Leaning back, she pressed her index finger into the trigger and blasted a steam of water into his face. She waited until most of the water had emptied from the gun before backing away. Danny sputtered, shook his hair out, and wiped water from his eyes. Mouth gaping open, he stared at her.

"That's for putting frozen marbles in my bed!" She spat. Rhuben tossed the super soaker onto the bed before striding out of the room, her ponytail swinging behind her.

Danny laughed. Oh. That. He remembered it now. The day that the two bands had moved in together, back in the states, the McFly boys had played pranks on the Jacksons. He had put marbles in the freezer, waited until it was late enough so that he was sure that she was asleep, and then dumped them all into her bed. Whichever way she turned, a marble would be there. That had been years ago. If she had been planning revenge for that long that just meant that she had been thinking about him for a while.

Danny wiped more water from his face, his smile widening. That was ok. That just meant that he could move on to plan C.

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N: **I've got a DougiexRiley one that I'm going to do soon, too. For those asking, Rhu and I have been thinking of writing JML/McFly stories again starting by re-writing our first ones. However as we have developed our characters over the years there are a few things that we need to work out before we start them. We're glad that you guys were happy to see us back.

Cheers,

-Riles


End file.
